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Body mapping

Safety representatives can easily see, during an inspection, when something is wrong in the workplace - but it is far more difficult to find out how work might be harming the bodies of our colleagues.

We do not tend to be very open at work about our health and some people dismiss aches and pains as ‘part of growing older’, not realising (or not wanting to admit) that it might be work that is causing the problems.

What is body mapping

Use a body map diagram to note symptoms of your colleagues.

Body mapping is a way of overcoming this and identifying common patterns of health problems amongst workers in a particular workplace or doing the same job. Whilst it is not certain that any such common ailments are work-related, it highlights areas for further investigation.

How to do it

There is nothing difficult in body mapping. You start with the front and back body outlines. You could provide everyone with a small body map or, alternatively, you could enlarge it either for use in a meeting with several members or for display on the union notice-board.

Members are then asked to put a sticker, or a coloured mark onto the body map to show any symptoms that they may have.

It is a good idea to use different colours to identify different symptoms, for example:

red - aches and pains

blue - cuts and bruises

green - illnesses

black - anything else

By comparing the different symptoms of members working in the same area, or doing the same tasks, you can identify common themes.

Causes of complaint

Once you’ve found the symptoms, you then need to look at possible causes - remember that these may not be work-related: but the more members reporting the same symptoms, the more likely it becomes that the work or working environment is a factor.

The table below offers some possible explanations for common complaints.

Table showing symptoms and possible causes of problems in different parts of the body.